


Ocean's Heart

by TheBlackLionsPaladin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Experiments, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mer!Allura, Mer!Coran, Mer!Shiro, Merpeople AU, Multi, Royal Shiro, Runaway Hunk, Runaway Keith, possible Allura/Shiro - Freeform, runaway Pidge, runaway lance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 09:22:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10085540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBlackLionsPaladin/pseuds/TheBlackLionsPaladin
Summary: Things could change so much within the span of a couple years, couldn't it? There was the beginning of a strong rebellion hidden within the ocean, and merpeople were real? Home was a thought only thought about when in an abandoned building and the ocean seemed so foreign to one born in it.A group of runaway teens come across an injured and restrained merman covered in scars of all kinds and decide to house him in their home; an abandoned Marine life research and rescue facility. Pidge and the Man seem to know each other as the mer was relatively afraid of human contact in general.Something bad is happening, in the ocean and on land. Why does it always seem to fall onto the shoulders of teenagers to save the world?Okay, that may be an exaggeration. Only a little thought.





	

(Chapter One)

 

The tides were unusually strong it seemed this night, waves crashing into the highest cliffs and curving in powerful strokes as water bounced from firmly packed earth.

"I just have a really bad feeling Hunk. I don't know how to explain it." Lance sighed, leaning casually against the wall and peering through the window into the mild storm. "I think the water feels it too." The teen uttered, blue eyes narrowing out at the dark ocean.

"I agree with Lance," A girl with a boyish set of clothing, messily cut light brown hair and a set of round glasses on her face where she pushed them up the bridge of her nose said quickly before returning her hand to her laptop resting upon her crossed legs. "I don't like it." Pidge huffed, glancing over at the older teen clad in jeans and a gray hoodie covered mostly by a navy green overcoat.

"Guys you're being ridiculous!" The big teen cried from his place at the small kitchenette within the old abandoned marine life rescue and research facility. The group had taken to making this place there makeshift home because none of them were all too happy with how their lives were at home. "It's a little messy out tonight sure, but it's not even that bad!" Hunk assured rolling his warm eyes.

The others shared unsure gazes, eyes slightly wide in a mutual understanding. "Keith!" Pidge shouted, her voice echoing down the lit hallways. No one had ever cut the power to the abandoned place and no one cared too, so they simply used the resources they were provided which lucky included the brilliant electricity.

"You think Keith'll agree with us?" Lance questioned with a raised eyebrow, and Pidge smiled back at him with a bouncy nod before returning her eyes to her computer's screen causing her glasses to glare, giving her a somewhat menacing appearance.

Another teenager, a cropped red jacket on his torso with white stripes down the sleeves and a black t-shirt underneath. His indigo eyes were unamused and his expression bland, but they all knew him well enough to see his curiosity.

"Me and Pidge here are uneasy," Lance stated easily, teasing smirk on his tanned blemish free face while he gestured vaguely to said girl. "What do you think mullet?" he asked, taking a jab at Keith's choice of hairstyle.

Said black haired boy's face twisted into a scowl of annoyance before he seemed confused. Glancing at both Pidge and Lance. "I thought it was just me." He answers honestly, quiet voice loud in the almost silent room. Pidge's typing and Hunk's quiet cooking the only other sounds.

The noises stopped at that moment, sans the sizzling of Hunk's fish in it's pan. "Seriously?" Pidge asked, raising a dark eyebrow. "All three of us are this put off by a mild storm? Why?" The resident genius asked aloud, the others' responses cut short by Hunk's uneasy sigh.

"Four. I really wanted to ignore this... What do we do?" The green headband clad teen asked, looking around the room searching for an answer he really didn't expect to find.

Keith shrugged, eyes staring back at all of them; filled with courage and determination. "We follow our guts. Obviously, our bodies are trying to tell us something. Wait till it leads us somewhere." He offered, confused and angered by the shocked looks he received in return.

"What!" The dark haired teen snapped, glaring at the rest of them and place a hand on his hip to keep it from dangling like his other limb. "Am I not allowed to have an idea?" He growled, walking fully into the room and plopping himself down on the couch next to Pidge who simply beamed at him and returned to her typing.

"Nah, You can. We just don't expect anything smart to come from you." Lance shot back, still trying to instigate a reaction from one of his new roommates. The four of them had moved in only a few weeks ago, officially running away from home. They had all known each other for different amounts of time, Lance had known Keith and Hunk a while before they had met Pidge but they accepted her quickly when she hesitantly explained how the rest of her family had been missing for a year. Ever since the Holt ship had left on a research mission to find out more about marine life. In fact, that's how they found this place: Pidge.

Keith snarled but remained seated. Happy to just sit and watch Pidge "work", work meaning silently watch funny cat videos and dolphins perform tricks with her ear-buds plugged in.

They had yet to feel the need to move, so they remained in their own worlds. Lance's mind trained purely on the ocean, unaware of the horrors that were occurring in its depths.

(Vol...tron?)

The group had abandoned their pod long ago, unbelieving in the ways of the ocean's kingdoms so they had rebelled, creating the entire rebellion in order to change the ocean's rules. There wasn't many of them, not by a long shot, but when they saw the long-lost Prince of the Ocean the three original rebels had smiled at each other with their sharp teeth. Carved into dagger-like shapes by rough shells, a sign a creature belonged to the rebellion.

The prince was covered in barely healing wounds, his entire torso was covered in gruesome scars along with his long black and white shark tail and one spread across the bridge of his nose. A piece had actually been carved from his caudal fin and his right arm was glinting in the ocean's lights and from a plethora of scars encasing his elbow and a few inches above a metal arm was attached, even copying the slim black almost see-through ulna fins on his other arm- through with strange shiny materials.

The three were horrified by the damage, but still grateful of who it had happened to be and pleasantly surprised to see the prince struggling to yank chains from his hands his mouth muzzled by a strange metal contraption they had no hope of understanding.

They didn't mind, as the muzzle was keeping the prince from freeing himself from the chains they decided they would use to their advantage.

The first of them, one with a brilliant purple tail that coiled from its length with fuchsia highlights on his multiple cloth like fins, swam forwards carefully. Fully aware of how bright his tail was so he made sure to keep it mostly hidden in the sand he kicked up.

He froze has the prince stopped his struggles, looking around with panicked gray eyes and his scarred tail flicking in anticipation. He was waiting for something, possibly the ones who had done this to him.

The prince had been missing for almost two years now, but he had obviously escaped imprisonment. It seemed he hadn't had the strength it took to swim far enough away from his captors. He noted to tell the rebellion to stay away from this place; they had to be quick. Another of the three had swam above the prince, his tail a striking gold that would've blended nicely with the sand. They should have been smarter, better. They'd improve with time, now wasn't the time to think about petty mistakes. The other had hidden in the kelp, his navy green tail blending nicely in his spot unlike his companions’. The prince's gills flared, his chest heaving with every breath he desperately took. He turned slightly with a small flick of his tail, showing his frayed back to the merman hidden in the reef. This was their chance.

The first of them flew up with a powerful stroke, the second down with a small push and the third had waited slightly longer allowing the others to startle the prince before he decided to strike shooting out of the kelp with deadly precision and speed of which he used to snatch the slack of the chain wrapped around the prince's hands yanking him along before he stopped and turned to the larger mercreature.

The prince was obviously startled, his large tail snapping violently in his panic and sending currents that knocked over the other two mermen while revealing strange un-shark-like needles that stood straight from where they ran down the length of his spine stopping midway up his back. They had been missed from a distance because their pitch black color matched that of the prince's tail.

The green-tailed rebel was irritated, unhappy with how much larger their captive was compared to them. He didn't have a way to fix this, the shark hybrid was rare but genetically bigger than the other aquatics, his predator status taking hold and allowing him a powerful stature.

Though an idea struck him and he smiled at the prince, watching as distrust and anger sparked in dark gray eyes. He quickly handed the chains off to his two friends, swimming with his torpedo speed a little further down from the others towards the reef. He had seen a length of chain similar to the one locking the prince's wrists together in the green plants while he had been hiding. The rebel snatched up the chain, rushing back in a blur of bubbles and disturbed water.

 The prince started when he felt the chain in the green-tailed one's hand wrap around his tail. He immediately tried to pull away but the pressure from the chain on his hands and was instead placed on his tail.

The prince struggled, pulling and twisting but it was fruitless in his weakened state. He tried to tell them to stop, to let him go but all that came out was strangled whines.

"Don't worry Takashi, we won't hurt you." The green one insisted, snatching the prince's head by the jaw and forcing the brilliant gray orbs to meet his murky green ones. "Much." He snarled, purposefully showing off sharp teeth, sure Takashi's glare meant he would've been doing the same if he was able.

"Come on Carter." The purple one hissed, golden eyes glaring up at the pale brunette who taunted the prince ruthlessly, his blonde hair swaying in the currents Takashi's slim tail created.

"Fine." Carter snapped but remained staring into the angry eyes of the ocean's prince.

"You think he's alright, Sam?" The gold tailed one asked, looking over to his opposite. Sam had blonde hair, golden eyes and a purple tail while he had red hair colored so strange it shined fuchsia pink, charcoal eyes and a golden tail. The two weren't even related but had become great friends when they were guppies because of their similar appearances. All three of them shared the same pale skin though, the entire rebellion did from spending so much time in dark caverns hiding from ocean authority they lost almost all color they had gained before joining up.

"I'm sure he's fine, I mean he's just excited." At his comrade's unbelieving look he let his own features form an unimpressed look. "We lead a rebellion, Charlie, kidnapping a missing prince is a great start for us. A real start. We'll finally be closer than ever to make things __fair__." Sam explained, smirking up at the two mermen who had locked their gazes together in determination but the prince was restrained and under their rein now. He didn't have a choice.

Carter yanked on the prince's chains, forcing the muscular shark hybrid to look away, and laughed at the merman's furious expression. "Let's go." He stated, gaze turning to his friends who nodded in unison up at him with smiles identical to his own on their faces.

(Vol...tron?)

The group had settled around the couch together, Pidge and Keith on the floor surrounded by blankets and pillows to keep them comfortable while Lance and Hunk sat stationed on the couch covered in their own pillows and blankets.

"Guys," Lance whined, trying to keep his voice light despite the worry bubbling in his chest. "This movie is boring."

Keith nodded, his eyes trained on the screen as he was determined to find something in the film that would interest him but he has yet to be successful.

"Let's watch Kung Fu Panda." Hunk suggested, smiling at his roommates who all eagerly nodded in return.

Pidge scampered across the floor and snatched up the DVD before shoving the disk into the proper machine and switching the channel so they could happily watch the cartoon film.

The movie was beginning, as they had skipped the trailers from years ago, but Pidge's mind was somewhere else.

Her family had gone out searching for some fantastic sign of life and had sent her all their research and videos. They had found a new species of marine life, they weren't myths; merpeople were real. She had videos on her computer of her father and brother interacting with a happy shark hybrid with black hair. His smile had been genuine as he played and talked with the two, they had been amazed when they had found his title was 'Prince of the Ocean'.  Pidge had been so excited to meet the merman, see his fins and sharp fangs in person.

Then one day the shark by the name of Shiro had been talking of his kingdom and customs through a video chat from her family ship's deck, a relaxed smile that had made Pidge's heart warm on his face, he stopped looking up in shock as the other Holts had yelled at him to get off the ship. That had been when the transmission cut out, and she stopped receiving videos and research. That had been the last time she'd seen her father and brother.

Pidge tuned back into the movie, eyes burning and chest constricted with worry for her family and Shiro. The merman had been so kind, and eager to share about his kind.

She had been so happy he had found her family and not poachers or something else, like marine life researchers, as he would've been hurt or possibly killed. Now it appeared all three were missing to her.

The storm was still raging on outside, and the bad feeling hadn't yet left her gut. So with her eyes burning, chest tight and stomach rolling she felt entirely and utterly defeated but that didn't mean she'd given up. No, she absolutely __refused__  to give up. It wasn't in her DNA.

(Vol...tron?)

The prince was dragged along by the chains wrapped around his arms, his left wrist catching occasionally on the separated metal rings while his right remained without even a scratch. The metal of his arm blending with the metal of his restraints, both a dark shining gray that had been made by the Galra organization's top scientists.

"Come on shark bait." Charlie hissed from below him, hand curled around the chain wrapped along the center of his tail that twirled down to the start of his caudal fin. He snarled at the name, the sound echoing in the waters around him and making Sam shiver slightly at the pure power that rumbled in Shiro's muscled chest. He didn't obey, if anything he slowed down refusing to be talked down to by his own species.

Carter glared ahead at the open ocean before them, turning to glower at the prince. "Come Takashi, You wouldn't want more damage to be done. Would you?" The dark-haired merman threatened smoothly, voice sickeningly calm.

Shiro jerked back, hating the feeling of being so powerless and at the mercy of younger merpeople but he had learned long ago that small did not mean weak. He let out a muffled shout of protest, beginning once again to struggle against the chains that had already scarred him so.

"We're gonna need more people," Charlie muttered to Carter, who nodded in return. "There's the dock over by the humans' beach. We could tie him down there and go on to get some of our stronger guys before coming back." He suggested, keeping his pink gaze trained on his green-themed friend.

"That's actually really brilliant Char." Carter smiled over at his friend in appreciation. Sam, who had simply listened in, helped the two tug the struggling shark hybrid to the docks narrowly dodging sharp rocks that jutted from the sands. His long tail swishing with powerful strokes before coiling back once more to avoid the earth's jagged edges.

The storm above was creating strong currents that would hopefully keep the prince stationary while they headed back to the rebellion's base.

The three worked together and tied the slack of Shiro's chains to the dock's support systems, keeping his body tight against the sturdy poles. Shiro shouted angrily at them, trying to get some rather foul words to be understood while he experimentally tugged at the chains. There was no slack anymore, leaving him pressed fully against the dock's support beam.

"That's rude." Carter chuckled smugly before ducking away from the currents that pounded Shiro against the thick brown pole and rushing off to get to the rebellion's base, unwilling to risk their prize being stolen by beach patrols used to keep sea life from being beached during these vicious storms.

Shiro pulled and yanked once his captives had gone, trying desperately to get free but he had only gotten free from the Galra because he had inside help. Now there was no hope of him breaking the chains as they had been specially made to keep him immobile.

 _ _The scientists had strapped him down, taking him from the tank they'd given him as a small mercy-  quite literally a__ small _ _mercy- and began to prep for transportation to the labs. They always chained him down, aware of his strength and how they had enhanced it; enhanced him.__

__Haggar, The Galra's main scientist, had smiled wickedly down at her patient. Excited to get onto the unmoral testing and experiments commonly practiced by the Galra. "Do not worry Champion," she purred, gripping his hair which had at some point gained a stark white_ _ __floof_ _ __in replacement of his previously black forelock. "We are making you better, as well as furthering technology." She hissed as if the greatness of human technology meant something more than pain to the merman. A choked noise left his throat, his jaw clamped shut by the muzzle they had fastened to his face figuring he hadn't use of his vocal cords since he never spoke around them. Only around a special few._ _

__The scientist's face was mostly obs__ _ _c__ _ _ured by the shadows the light behind her skull cast along her features, but Shiro found her eyes a honey color- almost yellow- and her hair as stark white as his forelock. She wasn't exactly__ young _ _either.__

__"You may transport him!" She called, and Shiro had never been more grateful when two familiar faces stumbled into the room. "Take him to lab twenty-seven." She hissed, turning to her clipboard and furiously scribbling down unknown things._ _

__Shiro winced, heart suddenly pounding and chest struggling to take in air without heaving and giving away he could understand them. A secret he had carefully kept hidden the last two years._ _

__The last time he had heard Haggar say lab twenty-seven he had lost his arm and had to sit through the utter torture of having the sy_ _ __n_ _ __thetic nerves attached to his natural ones after they'd allowed his arm to heal into a raw stump._ _

__The two faces he had grown to love so dearly throughout his captivity walked over, eyes so alike drinking in his scarred body and brand new bleeding incisions. They shared a look and a nod after noting his barely contained panic, grabbing the medical table's handles with determination in their eyes. They'd just exited the doors when they began to walk faster, but not in the route he had had so much to time to memorize. He let out a strained grunt of question, looking up at the two above him. Their eyes obscured by the glare of the light on their individual pairs of glasses._ _

__"Don't worry Shiro, We're finally getting you out of here." The younger of the two- Matt- assured him strongly. He jerked against his chains, ignoring the blood that spurted from his wounds from the strain, a panicked sound leaving him as his eyes slightly widened. They would get in trouble if they did this, punished. He would go through the tests, fight with the creatures they created. He'd do anything he could, but he didn't want them to get hurt._ _

__'Please, please, please, please, no no no no no.' Shiro's mind screamed at him, but he couldn't convey his thoughts with this damned contraption on his face._ _

__"It's okay." The older- Sam- tried to convince his friend, but Shiro's eyes pleaded with him to not do this. "They're going to replace your tail Takashi," Sam informed the young merman in a fierce whisper as a last resort. Wishing to convince the merman not to fight them on this, protectiveness filling his voice and eyes._ _

__Shiro stiffened, his entire body going entirely rigid before he remembered his previous train of thoughts. 'I'd do anything for you, Sam,' He thought fondly, tears building in his dully glowing eyes. 'Matt, you both taught me compassion and friendship and Katie had taught me so much while showing me how much you mean to her. I have to get you back to her, keep you safe. I promised.'_ _

__Shiro shook his head again, much to the surprise of the Holts, still struggling lightly against his bonds. Sam placed a hand on his cheek, wincing at the small clank his fingernail made on the metal muzzle. A single tear trailed down Shiro's face, and he tried one more time to plead with the two not to do this to themselves._ _

__"It's okay." Matt insisted, repeating his father's words before suddenly the sound of rushing footsteps moved down the corridor giving the Holts only enough time to free his tail before they had to dump him overboard. The last he saw of them both was the two falling to the ground and acting injured, the_ _ __genius_ _ __duo had planned to make it look like he escaped instead of being released._ _

__'You clever bunch.' He thought sadly, a couple more tears sliding from his face._ _

Shiro shivered, he'd been free for a mere day and flashbacks have already started. What use was he with PTSD? It was then he realized he didn't remember much of his two years in captivity, and even his years before then were somewhat fuzzy. Horrified the Prince curled in as much as he could with the restraints keeping him tight against the wooden structure and the currents constantly trying to pull him every which way.

He'd forgotten, He couldn't remember.

Had he been broken beyond repair?


End file.
